Food Security and Nutrition in the World

Table of Contents

• THE STATE OF FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITIONIN THE WORLD 1
• CONTENTS 4
• TABLES 5
• FIGURES 6
• BOXES 7
• FOREWORD 9
• METHODOLOGY 11
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 12
• Data inputs 13
• ABBREVIATIONS 15
• KEY MESSAGES 18
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 20
• FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION AROUND THE WORLD 20
• Food security indicators: latest updates and progress towards ending hunger and ensuring food security 20
• Cost and affordability of a healthy diet 21
• The state of nutrition: progress towards global nutrition targets 22
• A NEW DEFINITION OF FINANCING FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION 23
• Challenges in defining and measuring financing for food security and nutrition 23
• A new definition of financing for food security and nutrition 24
• CURRENT LEVELS OF AND GAPS IN FINANCING TO END HUNGER, FOOD INSECURITY AND MALNUTRITION 25
• Tracking current levels of funding for food security and nutrition 25
• The cost of policies and interventions to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030 26
• The cost of inaction or slow action 26
• WHAT IS NEEDED TO CATALYSE SCALABLE FINANCING TO FILL THE GAP? 27
• Scaling up financing flows to food security and nutrition 27
• Innovative financing approaches and tools to bridge the financing gap for SDG Targets 2.1 and 2.2 28
• How to achieve better alignment with and synergies in different sources of financing 29
• THE WAY FORWARD 30
• CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 33
• CHAPTER 2 FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION AROUND THE WORLD 35
• 2.1 FOOD SECURITY INDICATORS – LATEST UPDATES AND PROGRESS TOWARDS ENDING HUNGER AND ENSURING FOOD SECURITY 35
• KEY MESSAGES 35
• SDG Indicator 2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment 36
• Towards ending hunger (SDG Target 2.1): projections to 2030 40
• SDG Indicator 2.1.2 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale 44
• Differences in food insecurity across rural, peri-urban and urban areas and between men and women 49
• Healthy diets and the SDGs 53
• 2.2 COST AND AFFORDABILITY OF A HEALTHY DIET 54
• KEY MESSAGES 54
• The cost of a healthy diet in 2022 56
• The prevalence and number of people unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022 56
• 2.3 THE STATE OF NUTRITION: PROGRESS TOWARDS GLOBAL NUTRITION TARGETS 63
• KEY MESSAGES 63
• Global and regional trends 65
• Country progress 68
• Progress in least developed countries 68
• The double burden of malnutrition 71
• Double-duty actions for infants and young children (<5 years of age) 73
• Double-duty actions for school-age children (5–9 years) and adolescents (10–19 years) 73
• Double-duty actions for pregnant women 73
• Double-duty actions for all groups 74
• CHAPTER 3 A NEW DEFINITION OF FINANCING FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION 77
• 3.1 CHALLENGES IN DEFINING AND MEASURING FINANCING FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION 78
• Challenges in moving to a common definition of financing for food security and nutrition 80
• Food security and nutrition are complex multidimensional concepts that do not neatly fit into a sector-defined financing framework 80
• Different initiatives measure financing for food security and nutrition differently, although often adopting similar language 82
• 3.2 A NEW DEFINITION OF FINANCING FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION 84
• The different financing flows to food security and nutrition 84
• A core and an extended definition of financing for food security and nutrition 87
• A core definition – the lens on food security and nutrition dimensions and determinants 87
• Extended definition – a lens on the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition 90
• Update of countries affected by the major drivers 91
• Mapping and application of the core and extended definitions to financing flows 94
• PATHWAY 1: INTEGRATING HUMANITARIAN, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACEBUILDING POLICIES IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED AREAS 99
• PATHWAY 2: SCALING UP CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACROSS AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS 99
• PATHWAY 3: STRENGTHENING ECONOMIC RESILIENCE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE TO ECONOMIC ADVERSITY 99
• PATHWAY 4: INTERVENING ALONG AGRIFOOD SUPPLY CHAINS TO LOWER THE COST OF NUTRITIOUS FOODS 99
• PATHWAY 5: SHIFTING FOOD ENVIRONMENTS TOWARDS HEALTHIER DIETARY PATTERNS WITH POSITIVE IMPACT ON HUMAN HEALTH 100
• PATHWAY 6: TACKLING STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES, ENSURING INTERVENTIONS ARE PRO-POOR AND INCLUSIVE 100
• CHAPTER 4 CURRENT LEVELS OF AND GAPS IN FINANCING TO END HUNGER, FOOD INSECURITY AND MALNUTRITION 103
• 4.1 TRACKING CURRENT LEVELS OF FINANCING FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION 105
• Public spending on agriculture is low and not increasing where it is most needed 105
• Public spending on agriculture correlates negatively with food insecurity and some forms of malnutrition 107
• Public spending on food security and nutrition in selected low-income countries and middle-income countries 110
• International development finance flows for food security and nutrition 114
• Food security and nutrition take almost a quarter of official development assistance and other official flows and this share is not growing 114
• Food availability, health services and environmental health, conflict and inequality 114
• Flows broadly appear to target well the countries where hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition are more serious 115
• The private sector supports the financing of food security and nutrition, but proper accounting of private financing flows is not possible 118
• Non-commercial private financing 118
• Commercial private financing 120
• 4.2 THE COST OF POLICIES AND INTERVENTIONS TO END HUNGER AND MALNUTRITION BY 2030 123
• How much will ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030 cost at the minimum? 123
• Different interventions, same targets, different cost estimates 128
• 4.3 THE COST OF INACTION OR SLOW ACTION 129
• Not bridging the financing gap will make hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition and unhealthy living prevail while costing trillions 129
• CHAPTER 5 WHAT IS NEEDED TO CATALYSE SCALABLE FINANCING TO FILL THE GAP? 137
• KEY MESSAGES 137
• 5.1 SCALING UP FINANCING FLOWS TO FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION 138
• The determinants of access to financing at national level 138
• 5.2 INNOVATIVE FINANCING APPROACHES AND TOOLS TO BRIDGE THE FINANCING GAP FOR SDG TARGETS 2.1 AND 2.2 146
• Instruments for scaling up financing at global, regional and national levels 146
• Financing instruments for countries with limited ability to access financing flows 146
• Financing instruments for countries with moderate ability to access financing flows 152
• Financing instruments for countries with high ability to access financing flows 155
• Increasing financial inclusion and equality within countries 158
• 5.3 HOW TO ACHIEVE BETTER ALIGNMENT WITH AND SYNERGIES IN DIFFERENT SOURCES OF FINANCING 163
• The complexity of the financing landscape for food security and nutrition 163
• Towards financing architecture for ending hunger, food insecurity and  malnutrition 166
• CHAPTER 6 THE WAY FORWARD 177
• ANNEXES 183
• ANNEX 1A 184
• STATISTICAL TABLES TO CHAPTER 2 184
• NOTES: 198
• NOTES: 213
• ANNEX 1A 214
• ANNEX 1B METHODOLOGICAL NOTES FOR THE FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION INDICATORS 230
• PREVALENCE OF UNDERNOURISHMENT 230
• Waste factors 231
• Recommended readings: 233
• PREVALENCE OF FOOD INSECURITY AS MEASURED BY THE FOOD INSECURITY EXPERIENCE SCALE 233
• Recommended readings: 236
• COST OF A HEALTHY DIET 236
• Methodology: 236
• Method for defining a healthy diet basket 236
• Methods for cost calculation when ICP data are available 237
• Methods for cost update when ICP data are unavailable 237
• UNAFFORDABILITY OF A HEALTHY DIET 238
• Recommended readings: 240
• WASTING IN CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE 240
• Methodology: 240
• Country level 240
• Regional and global aggregates 240
• STUNTING IN CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE 241
• Methodology: 241
• Country level 241
• Regional and global aggregates 242
• OVERWEIGHT IN CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE 243
• Methodology: 243
• Country level 243
• Regional and global aggregates 243
• Recommended readings: 244
• EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING 244
• Methodology: 244
• Country level 244
• Regional and global aggregates 245
• Recommended readings: 245
• LOW BIRTHWEIGHT 245
• Methodology: 245
• Country level 245
• Regional and global aggregates 246
• ADULT OBESITY 247
• Methodology: 248
• Country level 248
• Regional and global aggregates 248
• ANAEMIA IN WOMEN AGED 15 TO 49 YEARS 249
• Methodology: 249
• Country level 249
• Regional and global aggregates 249
• ANNEX 2 GLOSSARY 251
• Acute food insecurity 251
• Affordability 251
• Agrifood systems 251
• Animal source foods 251
• Blended finance 251
• Bond 251
• Capital markets 251
• Commercial finance 251
• Concessional loans 251
• Climate 252
• Climate change 252
• Climate extreme (extreme weather or climate event) 252
• Climate shocks 252
• Climate variability 252
• Conflict 252
• Debt 252
• Debt-based financing 252
• Debt swap 252
• Diet quality (or healthy diets) 252
• Dietary energy requirements 252
• Domestic private investment 253
• Domestic public expenditure 253
• Drought 253
• Due diligence 253
• Economic downturn 253
• Economic shock 253
• Economic slowdown 253
• Energy-dense foods 253
• Equity 253
• Equity-based finance 253
• Extreme poverty 253
• Extreme weather or climate event 253
• Finance, financing 253
• Fiscal subsidies 254
• Flood 254
• Food environment 254
• Food Insecurity Experience Scale 254
• Food security 254
• Food security dimensions 254
• Foreign direct investment 255
• Funding 255
• Governance 255
• Guarantee 255
• Hazard 255
• Healthy diets 255
• Health taxes 255
• Healthy food environments 255
• Highly processed foods 255
• Hunger 256
• Impact investing 256
• International portfolio investments 256
• Macronutrients 256
• Malnutrition 256
• Mezzanine finance 256
• Micronutrients 256
• Moderate food insecurity 256
• Multilateral development bank 256
• Nutrition transition 256
• Nutritional status 257
• Nutritious foods 257
• Other official flows 257
• Official development assistance 257
• Overweight and obesity 257
• Portfolio 257
• Prevalence of undernourishment 257
• Private equity 257
• Private funding 257
• Project finance 257
• Public funding 257
• Remittance 257
• Resilience 257
• Risk 257
• Security 258
• Severe food insecurity 258
• Staple foods 258
• Stunting 258
• Unaffordability 258
• Undernourishment 258
• Undernutrition 258
• Venture capital 258
• Vulnerability 258
• Wasting 258
• Weather 258
• NOTES 259
• CHAPTER 1 259
• CHAPTER 2 259
• CHAPTER 3 263
• CHAPTER 4 265
• CHAPTER 5 268
• ANNEXES 279
• NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS IN STATISTICAL TABLES IN CHAPTER 2 AND ANNEXES 1 283
• Geographic regions 283
• Other groupings 283
• Composition of geographic regions (countries and territories) 284
• AFRICA 284
• SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 284
• ASIA 284
• LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 284
• LATIN AMERICA 284
• OCEANIA 284
• OCEANIA EXCLUDING AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 284
• NORTHERN AMERICA AND EUROPE 284
• EUROPE 284